Crane Hire Southampton

Cranes for Southampton jobs

Tell us the weight, radius and access for your Southampton job and we’ll recommend the right machine. Not sure where to start? Read our guide to what size crane you need.

Where we work in and around Southampton

Most of our Southampton crane hire work falls into a handful of sectors.

The docks and the cruise terminals

The Western and Eastern Docks handle containers, vehicles, bulk and cruise, and lifting there is port plant, heavy cargo and terminal equipment, planned around vessel movements, turnaround days and quayside ground bearing. See our maritime sector page.

The Waterside process sites

The refining and process plant on the Waterside is permit-controlled, and the work is shutdown lifting, vessel and pump replacement and new installation to the site’s own lifting standard, inside a window fixed months ahead. See our chemicals sector page.

Marine engineering on the Waterside

The military port and the marine engineering base on the western side of the water are controlled-access environments, where clearance and permits are arranged well in advance, and where lifts over or beside water carry tidal windows to allow for. See our maritime page.

Nursling, Millbrook and the industrial estates

The estates ringing the city hold manufacturing, engineering and distribution operations. Typical jobs are machinery deliveries and installs, factory moves, plant removals and rooftop unit changes. See our industrial and HVAC sector pages.

Hospitals and universities

The hospital estate and two universities bring chiller and air handling unit replacement, scanner and laboratory equipment moves and plant room work, mostly on sites that stay open or in a vacation shutdown. See our healthcare and pharma and education sector pages.

Construction and waterfront regeneration

Residential, commercial and waterfront schemes across the city bring steel erection, precast, cladding and rooftop plant, often on plots with a single access point off a busy road. See our construction sector page.

Access and planning for lifts in Southampton

Every site is different, but a few things come up again and again on Southampton jobs:

• Getting there. The M27 runs across the top of the city with the M3 from the north and the M271 and A33 feeding the docks. Larger all-terrain cranes and ballast loads are routed around low bridges and weight limits, and we plan the route before we quote.
• Port access. Dock sites have their own inductions, permits and vehicle rules, and on a cruise turnaround day the terminal area is effectively closed to other work. We check the shipping and turnaround calendar as part of planning the date.
• Permit-controlled process sites. On the Waterside the permit to work, the exclusion zone and the shutdown window come first, and the lift is planned inside them.
• Tide, water and wind. Lifts over or beside water bring tidal windows, rescue provision and exposure, so we plan around wind limits and the state of the tide where it matters.
• Ground and road closures. Dock estate and reclaimed land is made ground, so we confirm ground bearing and use crane mats where needed. Where a lift needs part of a road or pavement closed, we can arrange the traffic management and road closure with Southampton City Council or Hampshire County Council.

Postcodes and areas we cover

We cover every SO postcode and the districts around the city:

• Southampton: city centre, the docks, Millbrook, Shirley, Freemantle, Bassett, Highfield, Swaythling, Bitterne and Woolston
• The Waterside: Totton, Marchwood, Hythe and Fawley
• Around the city: Eastleigh, Chandler’s Ford, Hedge End, Romsey and Winchester
• Wider area: Fareham, Portsmouth, Andover, Stockbridge, Salisbury, Bournemouth and Basingstoke

Beyond Southampton we also work across Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire and West Sussex. See all the areas we cover.

Why Southampton firms choose Synergy Lifting for crane hire

• Port and process work suits us. Inductions, permits, clearance and fitting a lift around vessel movements or a shutdown are normal for us.
• Planning to somebody else’s timetable. Where the window is set by a ship or an outage, we plan the crane, the route and the labour backwards from it.
• Qualified and accredited. CPCS and NPORS operators, lifts planned to BS 7121, and a business certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, with Constructionline Gold Member registration.
• One contractor for the whole lift. We can take on the lift plan, appointed person, RAMS, supervision and insurance.

More than cranes

Many Southampton jobs need more than a lift, so we also offer:

• Machine movement
• Machine delivery and installation
• Factory relocation
• Industrial plant dismantling
• Steel erection and dismantling
• Plant room strip out
• Traffic management and road closures

How to book a crane

1. Send us the site location, load weight, access details and dates. Photos help.
2. We quote, usually the same working day. Complex lifts may need a site visit first.
3. For contract lifts we prepare the lift plan and RAMS. For CPA hire we advise on crane position and set-up.
4. We arrive on the agreed day and carry out the lift to BS 7121.

Common questions

Can you work inside the port?

Yes. It means inductions, permits and vehicle rules, and a date that fits the shipping and turnaround calendar rather than the other way round. Tell us the berth or terminal and what the site requires.

Can you work on a permit-controlled process site?

Yes. We work to site inductions, permits to work and exclusion zones, and we can produce lift plans and RAMS to the site’s own format. Send the standard with your enquiry.

Can you lift over water?

Often, yes. It changes the plan rather than ruling the job out: tidal window, rigging arrangement, rescue provision and wind limits all get set out in the lift plan.

Get a quote for crane hire in Southampton

• Phone: 023 8168 4568
• Email: southampton@synergy-lifting.co.uk

We also provide crane hire in Portsmouth, Bournemouth, Reading and Brighton. See all the areas we cover.